The invention relates generally to energy extraction systems, and more particularly, to a device for enhancing efficiency of an energy extraction system.
Various types of energy extraction systems are known and are in use. For example, gas turbines extract energy from a flow of combustion gas and are employed for applications such as power generation, marine propulsion, gas compression, cogeneration, offshore platform power and so forth. Similarly, wind turbines convert kinetic energy of wind into mechanical work for applications such as power generation. Furthermore, internal combustion engines employed in vehicles generate power for driving the vehicle.
Certain energy extraction systems employ Brayton cycle where air is compressed through a compressor and the compressed air is combusted with a fuel in a combustion chamber. Further, hot gases from the combustion chamber are expanded through a turbine or a series of turbines for generating mechanical work. Typically, the Brayton cycle based systems expand hot gases through the turbines and any residual heat is lost to the environment without being utilized. In certain systems, large and expensive recuperators are employed for recovery of the residual heat. However, it is relatively expensive to employ such recuperators for recovering this heat in smaller systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for an energy extraction system that has a high efficiency with substantially low heat rejection losses. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a device that can be integrated with existing energy extraction systems for minimizing the heat losses and enhancing the efficiency of such systems.